While many consider Windows Media a relic from the Stone Age of computing, there's still plenty of content out there and few ways to play it on the Mac. That's why it's good to hear that the official Windows Media player on the Mac has now been updated with support for OS X Mountain Lion.

If you want to get your DVD collection onto your Mac, Apple TV or portable iOS device, chances are you’ve already discovered the free HandBrake software, which handles the task like a champ. What you may not know is that there are some simple tricks and tweaks to make HandBrake really sing, particularly if you’ve been challenged by getting commercial discs from your personal collection properly encoded.

If you’ve ever wanted to encode one of the DVDs in your personal collection so that you can watch it on the go with your iOS device, you’ve no doubt discovered the wonder that is HandBrake, now with even more awesome.

iPad users who like their video to be encoded to Xvid rather than Apple's proprietary formats might want to have their happy dance ready, as the impossible has become possible--Apple has approved an App that allows your iPad to rock Xvid movies without conversion!

CineXPlayer is currently available in the App Store at the low, low price of FREE, despite Apple's tendancy to frown upon applications that allow for the playback of video files formatted to anything other MPEG-4 or H.264. This is excellent news for those of us with a large collection of Xvid formatted files and no time or paitence to convert them for use on the go.